Their Burden
by Hi no Hime
Summary: "Roy Mustang what is it you're afraid of? What is it that makes you loose yourself in fear?"
1. Prologue

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- "Roy Mustang what is it you're afraid of? What is it that makes you loose yourself in fear?"

Prologue

…

It was dark out when they knocked on the door. Visitors were unusual enough for the run down house and its solemn residents so the young girl was curious. The strangest part, she thought, was that her father actually came out of his study to greet these people, instead of telling her to make them leave like usual. He almost seemed happy they were there, surely it was the happiest she's seen him since her mother died years before.

He led them into the living room, where she was sitting finishing her latest assignments. There were eight of them total; four scary looking men and each of them had a young girl with them. The girls all looked to be close to her age, though she could tell that they were all older by at least a year or two. She imagined that the girls must the men's daughters, though their reason for coming to her sad little house was a mystery.

The thing that caught her attention most was how different some of them looked. Two of the sets of fathers and daughters looked like everyone else she knew, blonde hair and light eyes. However the other two looked completely different. One pair had black hair instead of the blonde the girl was used to, and they both had green eyes. Those features were not completely unheard of, but they were still uncommon.

The ones who stood out the most were the last pair. They both had light hair, almost white, but not quite, and when she looked at their eyes she saw bright blood red. She had heard of the Ishvalans, she even had a little Ishvalan blood, which explained her own unique eye color, but she had never actually met any. Their appearance in her house was, to her, the biggest mystery of all. After all, why would any Ishvalan want to come to an alchemist's house?

Her own father instructed the other girls to sit down and wait while the men went and talked. The girls did as they were told without a word and the men all went into the girl's father's study. Only when the door was shut firmly did any of the girls dare to speak. It was one of the blond girls and she looked directly at the girl as she spoke.

"Hello, my name is Adriana. What's your name?" Her voice was meek, not unlike the girl's own voice. It cracked a little as she spoke, a tell-tale sign of disuse. Observing the other girls in the room she could tell that they were all like her. Fleetingly the girl wondered if any of them had mothers, she thought probably not. Feeling a little safer the girl finally spoke.

"My name is Riza." Was all she said at first, then she asked, "Who are all of you?"

The girls all looked at each other for a second and then Adriana spoke up again.

"Well, as I said I'm Adriana, that over there is Karina." Adriana said pointing to the other blonde girl. "Over there is Miranda, her and her father moved here from Creta a few years back." She was then indicating the girl with black hair. "And last is Nila, as you can probably tell she's Ishvalan." Each other girl then gave a polite and formal greeting.

Riza looked at all the girls committing their names and faces to memory. Then her curiosity got the better of her and she asked, "What are you all doing here? It's not often we even get one visitor, let alone eight at one time. Oh, I'm sorry if that sounded rude, I really didn't mean for it to."

This time it was Karina who spoke. "Don't worry, we all understand what it's like. You see the four of us, well five now I suppose, are kind of like a sisterhood. We've all gone through similar circumstances and of course there's our connection through our fathers. We just want you to feel comfortable with us, especially considering what's going to happen…"

"Karina! Hush now or you'll get us all in trouble. Can't you see that she has absolutely no clue as to what's going on?" Adriana scolded.

"What? What do you mean? What's going to happen? How do our fathers know each other, and what does that have to do with all of us?" Riza was now both curious and slightly afraid.

Adriana spoke again, "Listen Riza, we can't tell you everything right now, but trust me soon you will understand everything. All I can say right now is that our fathers are all colleagues so to speak. They've all helped each other with their research and now they are helping each other hide their work. They're all alchemists. I wish I could tell you more, but I don't want to get us in trouble, just remember we are here for you even when others might not." With that the door opened and Riza was called in. Once she was in and the door was once again closed tight the other girls began to speak once more. For the first time that evening Miranda spoke up.

"I do hope she'll be okay. She's so small I wonder how they'll be able to fit it all on there."

Then Nila chimed in, "They'll do it the same way they did the rest of us. And remember she's the same age the rest of us were when we got ours. I'm sure she'll be fine, I mean the rest of us survived it."

"Sorry I said so much Adri. It just makes me so upset to think that yet another girl has to go through this." Karina added apologetically.

"It's okay Kari, I understand what you mean. At least she's the last one; no other girls have to go through this."

"You're assuming that none of the apprentices' decide they like the idea and do it to their own daughters." Miranda said bitterly.

"Well I don't know about you girls, but I don't plan to ever show mine to anyone, especially my father's apprentice. He gives me the creeps. Not to mention he's a jerk."

"Kari, you're assuming that your father gives you a choice in the matter. If he says to show it to him you must. None of us have any choice in this."

Just as Adriana finished speaking the girls heard a high pitched "WHAT" followed by several men shouting from inside the study. After the men quieted down all that could be heard was the gentle sobbing of a 10 year old girl. Then Nila spoke again.

"Well it seems that they've told her."

"Yes, they'll give her a few minutes to calm down and then they will begin."

"That poor girl. She will remember tonight as the most painful night of her entire life."

"And then she'll be one of us; another girl turned into a human notebook, forced to carry the burdens of their fathers deadly work. She can never have a normal life after this."

"None of us can."


	2. 20 years later

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- "Roy Mustang what is it you're afraid of?"

Chapter 1: 20 Years Later

…

It was a beautiful day in Central City. The sun was shining and the sky was blue. The Ishvalan restoration was well on its way and making great progress, so much that Brigadier General Roy Mustang and his team's presence were no longer necessary. If fact most of the military's presence was being pulled out. After several years in the dessert they were finally back in Central, though Roy was still in charge of the restoration efforts. The team was happy to be back in the city and Mustang was happy to see the rebuilding handed over to the Ishvalins.

Upon their arrival Team Mustang settled into and easy routine of paperwork and an occasional case to investigate. Thing seemed to be finally settling down fore everyone. Everything seemed to be much the same as it was before they went to Ishval. The General slacked off, the team goofed off, and Captain Riza Hawkeye made sure that all work was done by its deadline and that the men didn't get to out of hand. Things seemed to be as perfect as they could get, until a certain case came across their desks.

It started on a Monday just like any other. Riza would go get the day's work and the men would all come in late and then goof off until she returned and got them to work. That day however the work was light because they were being assigned a new case. At first it looked just like any other ordinary murder case, if murder could ever be called ordinary. The Captain set the files down on First Lieutenant Jean Havoc's desk for them to look over while she went to inform the General.

Havoc with an unlit cigarette in his mouth started looking through the file, reading its contents to his team mates.

"Well let's see here. The vic was a 34 year old woman, unidentified. She had long black hair. The preliminary report shows extensive damage to her entire back and abrasions on her head. No signs of sexual assault. Death is believed to be caused by blunt force trauma, but we're still waiting for the autopsy reports. There are some pictures of the scene. Seems pretty cut and dry, why are we investigating this? From what I can tell it should be let to the MP's?" Havoc then looked to the door the separated their office from General Mustang's, waiting from Mustang and Hawkeye to emerge. The Warrant Officer Furey spoke.

"You didn't look at the whole report. Look here it shows the woman's personal effects. It appears she had a military issue gun with her at the time of her death, as well as three military stars." Havoc looked over the reports again.

"Huh, I guess you're right. What do you have to say about this Breda?" He then looked at the heavyset First Lieutenant who was sitting there eating a sandwich.

"It definitely explains why they have an official military team working the case, but why do they want such a high ranking team investigating?" The other two men thought for a moment and came up with nothing. Just then the door to Mustang's office opened revealing their superior officers. Then Mustang in a loud voice called out to them.

"So men what do we have." Hawkeye walked over and picked up the pictures of the crime scene, while Havoc answered Mustang.

"We're still waiting for the autopsy reports, but it looks to be blunt force trauma, though there is some pretty extensive damage to her back."

Mustang, now interested looked at Havoc and asked, "What kind of damage?" Before Havoc could respond they heard Hawkeye gasp and drop the pictures. They all looked at her and she was shaking. Mustang walked over to where she was standing and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Captain, are you alright? You look as if you just saw a ghost." Hawkeye looked up slowly him; he could see her fighting tears. She took a deep shaky breath and looked him squarely in the eye.

"I know this woman." She then turned to face her superior, wiped away a stray tear and steeled herself for the questions she knew were coming.

"What? How do you know her?" Mustang asked in shock. The other men were silent; fearing what may happen if they interrupt. Then they all saw something they never thought possible, Riza Hawkeye having difficulty speaking.

"I… I… it's complicated. I knew her from when I was young. Umm, our fathers worked together." Mustang, realizing the implications of this guided her to a nearby chair and ordered his men to take an early lunch. They all left without question, closing the door behind them.

Mustang then locked the door, got a glass of water from the jug on the counter and went back to his most precious subordinate. He handed her the glass and pulled up another chair so he was facing her. Once she had taken a few sips of water and her breathing has returned to normal Mustang began asking questions.

"Okay Captain I need to you to tell me everything. First off who is this woman?" Hawkeye took another deep breath and answered him.

"Her name is Miranda Nindez. She is a Cretan immigrant, she moved to Amestris when she was seven years old. Last I heard she lived in South City with her father, her mother died shortly before they immigrated. She has one younger sister, who is about the same age as Edward Elric."

"Wait, if her mother died before she was seven, how does she have a sister who isn't even 20 yet?"

"Her father remarried when Miranda was 15, they had a child soon after. Unfortunately the mother died due to complications during childbirth. So it's been Miranda who raised Emma. Their father was not much better than my own you see. The whole reason he remarried was to have someone to look after her, he never imagined that he would then have two motherless daughters." Mustang thought on this for a moment then began his questions again.

"Who is the father? You mentioned that he worked with yours, does this mean he's an alchemist too?" Hawkeye looked down and then answered in a much quieter voice than Mustang was used to hearing.

"Yes, he was. It was him, my father and four others. They all helped each other with their research and after they finished they helped each other hide their research." Realization hit Mustang like a ton of bricks. He could actually feel his faith in humanity dropping.

'You mean he and the others were the ones who…" He let his sentence trail off unsure of how to say what he was thinking.

"Yes sir, they are the ones who marked my back, and I'm not the only one." She could see the shock and disgust on his face as he understood what she was implying.

"You mean," he said gesturing to the photos on the table.

"Yes." She said with a small nod.

"Well I suppose that explains why her back was so badly damaged. Whoever killed her must have known about that." He could never ring himself to call it by name.

"Most likely sir. Sir, I think we should tell the men about my back." Hawkeye's breathe shook, but there was also determination in her voice.

"Are you sure? I mean we could probably conceal it since her was so completely destroyed. You don't have to do this." They were both standing now and looking at each other; Hawkeye with determination, Mustang with compassion that he only shows to her.

"Yes I do sir. Think about it, if the motivation had anything to do with the secrets she held then concealing my part in this, at least from the men, could jeopardize the entire case. They need all the facts available if we want to find who murdered her." Mustang sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"You're right as always. I just wish we could leave you out of this. What if whoever killed her finds out and comes after you?" Mustang had to hold himself back from grabbing her and pulling her into his arms.

"Well sir, I suppose if that happens then it will be that much easier to find the killer, after all I am still under orders not to die correct. Besides there are only a very few people who know about our connection, it's not likely that whoever did this even knows that there are others. I am however concerned about the rest. With your permission sir, I'd like to take some time off tomorrow to contact those I can." Mustang looked at her, still unsure of what to say.

"Of course Captain, take all the time you need. By the way, how come you never told me about this before?" Hawkeye looked at him in the eye.

"Because sir, we all decided that it would be safest if we didn't tell anyone else, especially our fathers' apprentices. The only reason I'm telling you now is because it's necessary for the case." Mustang looked hurt and took a step back.

"Do you really think I would do something to them just to get their secrets? Do you really think so little of me? Riza after everything we've been through?" Hawkeye took a few steps closer to him and looked him in the eye. Though she didn't show it, it really hurt her to hear him doubt her. Slowly she put a hand on his cheek, it was the most contact they'd had in quite a while.

"No sir… Roy I didn't tell you because I promised them I would not. You know full well that I trust no one as much as I trust you. Why do you think I've followed you all this time? We've barely kept in contact with one another because we have to worry about our safely. Just think about what would happen if the wrong person were to find out that there were five women, each tattooed with the most deadly and destructive alchemy techniques ever created. The others are not military trained, as you can see, they would not be able to defend themselves if attacked. We already almost lost one before this and now she's locked in Central Asylum for probably the rest of her life because she didn't want to show someone hers and he tortured her for it. It has absolutely nothing to do with you and everything to do with keeping the women, whom I consider sisters, as safe as possible. I know I should have told you sooner, and I'm sorry for not, but I couldn't."

After she finished Hawkeye fell to her knees, unable to support herself any longer. Mustang looked down at her for a moment and then kneeled down beside her.

"I'm sorry." Hawkeye looked up. "I was being an ass. I should have known you had a good reason for not telling me, but as usual, my pride got in the way. I promise we will handle this however you see fit. I'm giving you lead on this one." Hawkeye stood up and Mustang followed suit.

"Alright sir. I think the first thing we need to do is fill the men in on the situation. Then we should have Havoc and Breda head down to the crime scene and see what they can find that at the MPs missed. While they're doing that I am going to attempt to get into contact with one of the other woman who still lives here in Central. Furey should then look up what he can about Miranda's family and try to find out why she was in the city." Mustang looked at the captain and smiled.

"Sounds like a plan. What do you want me to do?" Hawkeye started straightening the files and putting the reports back into the folder.

"Sir, if you don't mind, I'd like you to come meet her with me." Mustang was shocked by the request but then promptly answered.

"Of course Captain, if you think that's best." Hawkeye gave a small smile and nodded. "Alright then let's see if we can hunt down those lazy subordinates of ours." And he started for the door.

"Like you're one to talk sir; you're as lazy as the rest of them." Mustang gave a fake insulted look before laughing, as Hawkeye followed behind him.

"Yes Captain, I suppose you are correct. Geez you never let up do you?" He laughed again before opening the door.

"Not with you sir, there's too much at stake to let you slip up." She then laughed again and followed him out to look for the men whom they both felt were family.

…

A/N: Here is the first official chapter. I hope everyone reading this liked it. I spent a lot of time working on this one. I think I spent ore time working on this chapter than any other thing I've written so far. If you are familiar with my other major project, 'Thought's on Royai' then you will know that I am fond of responding to the reviews I receive. I am not going to do that for the first few chapters, but will start around chapter 3 or 4. Right now I just want everyone to get a feel for the story before I respond to anything. I don't know exactly how long this is going to be, but I do know it won't be short. My guess is it will be a minimum of 10 chapters, and will probably go over that. I want to thank those who have reviewed for the prologue. I hope you keep reviewing, and for those who haven't reviewed yet, please do. See you next time.


	3. Telling the Men the Investigation Begin

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- "Roy Mustang what is it you're afraid of?"

Chapter 2: Telling the Men/ the Investigation Begins

…

The men listened to their superiors speak in silence. At first they had no clue that to think when they were called in to a 'team meeting,' but as they heard the story everyone of the was filled with intense emotion. Havoc was visibly pissed, he couldn't believe that anyone could truly be capable of doing that to their own daughter, but then that reminded him of the Tucker Chimera case and he got even more pissed. Furey wanted to cry, he had figured that the captain's life hadn't been easy, but this was more than he could ever possibly have imagine. Breda was a little calmer than the others throughout the entire ordeal. Yes he was angry, he wished he could go back and punch the entire group of fathers for what they had done, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it now.

It was a while before any of them managed to say anything; even Mustang was unable to find words after hearing Hawkeye reveal their adolescence to the team. He had lived through a lot of it and still it made him unreasonable angry at his deceased teacher. The only one who seemed to manage to keep complete control of their emotions was Captain Hawkeye herself. Finally and surprisingly, Furey managed to find the words he wanted to say.

"Captain I uh was just wondering, why are you telling us all of this? I mean, yes it probably was important to know that you knew the victim, but why the rest?" Breda and Havoc looked at him like he just grew a second and it was shouting to burn the village.

"Furey you idio…" Havoc started but was cut off by Hawkeye.

"I told you all of this because we don't know why whoever killed Miranda did and I wanted you all prepared incase their motive had something to do with the alchemy secrets she was hiding. If that is the case and they were to find out about the rest of us they may come after us, if that is the case then I will need you men to guard the others." She then took a deep breath and looked at the clock on the wall. "Well it's later than I though it would be. Alright I need to go get some forms and check on the status of the autopsy report. I want all of you to prepare for some field work. Havoc and Breda you will be visiting the scene look for anything the MPs might have missed. Furey I want you to go with them and canvas the area, see if you can find out what she was doing here in Central, also I want you to find any information you can about her family. Move out." With that she walked out the door. The men all looked at Mustang, unsure of what to do. When he noticed that they weren't moving he yelled at them.

"Well you heard the Captain MOVE OUT" The three then scrambled to gather their equipment and headed for the door. "One more thing before you all go." They then stopped their mad rush and looked at the general. "What Captain Hawkeye told you was very personal, and even though it did look like it, it was very difficult for her to tell you all of this. There was a lot of that information that even I didn't know until today. I want you men to think about that a bit."

Then in unison they all said, "Yes sir." and walked out.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

When they were almost to the crime scene the men started to discuss what they had just learned. It started with an innocent question from Furey.

"Hey guys, what do you think the General meant just before we left? What did he mean when he said to 'think about' it?"

Havoc and Breda looked at him like he had grown a third head that was now in a heated debate with the second head about the best method to burn the village. Then Breda answered the younger man.

"I think what he meant was that we need to reflect on what it means that she would be so open with us. Think about it, Hawkeye has always been very private and for her to open up to us like this means that she trusts us in a way that she has probably never trusted anyone before, except maybe those other women she was talking about." Furey thought about this for a moment and decided that it made sense to him.

"I guess you're right, I mean the general said that he didn't even know some of that stuff, and he was there for a lot of it." Then Breda looked at Havoc.

"What do you think of all this?" Havoc shot the other men his usual cheesy grin while taking a puff of his cigarette and then spoke.

"I think it doesn't change anything. All it did was confirm some things we already kind of knew. We knew that Hawkeye's life hasn't been easy, now we know just how bad it was. We all knew that she and the General knew each other before the war in Ishval, now we know the extent of their relationship. The way I see it nothing has changed. I'm still going to follow them just as I did before. I'm still going to work as hard as I can, and do everything I can to see Mustang in the Fuhrer's chair and that Hawkeye is right beside him when he gets there. See nothing's changed, we just know a bit more about the King and Queen."

When Havoc finished he lit another cigarette and took a long drag of it. The other two took a minute to process the uncharacteristic wisdom of their brother-in-arms and were inclined to agree with him. They all walked in silence until they reached the crime scene, which they realized happened to be right behind Mustang's favorite bar. Breda found this particularly interesting.

"What do you think guys, is it just a coincidence that she's an old friend of the Captains and just so happened to die right behind the General's bar?"

"Breda we know full well that none of us believe in coincidences, that was one of the first things Mustang taught us when we started working together. Besides if she was looking for Hawkeye for some reason then it's not that hard to figure out that the best way to get to her is through Mustang. Well Furey, I must say I envy you, getting to interview all those pretty girls. Just remember they are the General's sisters so don't get any ideas about them." Furey looked at Havoc and started blushing and stammering.

"I well I um I uh"

"Don't worry Furey you know he was just messing with you. We all know better than to hit on any of Mustang's sisters. To bad for you though, eh Havoc. Those are probably the only women Mustang wouldn't steal from you and they're as off limits as the Captain."

Now Havoc was upset. It still hurt that he couldn't find a girlfriend, even though Mustang hadn't even gone out on any real dates since he almost lost Hawkeye on that day. Sure Havoc had gone out plenty, but none of the women ever seemed to like him enough to stick around and go on a second date. Just thinking about it made him depressed, and to make it worse his own teammates, his brothers for all intents and purposes, continued to make fun of him for it.

"Alright well let's go. We'll meet back up with you Furey in about five hours. How does that sound?" Breda said taking charge.

"Sure sounds good to me." said Furey happily.

"Yea, what ever." said Havoc, not so happily. Then the men walked their separate ways; Havoc and Breda to the crime scene and Furey into the bar to ask some questions.

Upon their arrival to the crime scene the MPs who were already there showed them around. The ally was dark even in the middle of the day it was difficult to see clearly. There was also no view from the street, making it the perfect spot to commit such a heinous murder. They used lanterns when inspecting the area closely, so they wouldn't miss anything in the shadows. The men were shown to the spot where the body was found and they decided to begin their search there. They look around for several hours before Breda made a discovery.

"Hey Havoc, come here." Havoc, who was at the other end of the ally walked toward his friend to see what he had found.

"What'cha got there?" He said as he got to the spot Breda was inspecting. Breda held up a few strands of long red hair he found a few feet from where the body was discovered.

"The captain mentioned that the girl had a sister right, well any chance she's a redhead?" He said as she held up a few long red hairs.

"Could be, of course they could also belong to one of the girls from the bar." Havoc said thinking.

"Nope, it's not one of them. I keep a record of all the girls who work for Christmas and there isn't a single redhead among them, not even dyed." Havoc looked at him in disbelief.

"You know I wonder what part of that is harder for me to swallow; the fact that you keep a record of all of Mustang's sisters, or that there really isn't a single woman with read hair in the entire lot. I mean come on, she has, like, 20 girls working for her and not one of them has red hair."

"Actually she has 23 girls and red hair just isn't common around here."

"If you're sure then I believe you, let's bag it then. I wonder how is Furey's making any progress. I think we've found all we're going to today, let's go see if we can catch up with him. " Breda looked at his wristwatch tiredly.

"I can't believe it's already that late. Yea, let's go meet up with him and then head back and give our reports. Let's hope he had better luck than we did." Breda said as he put the hair in a bag to be taken for evidence.

"No kidding. After this is all said and done I really think I need a drink, you wanna come with?" The men then started walking towards the opening to the ally and Havoc lit a cigarette.

"Don't I always, but don't think I'm going to try to help you pick up any girls." Havoc looked at the man nest to him.

"Not a problem. After today all I really want is a few bottles of beer. Besides I've got my eye on someone already, and I'm fairly positive that the General won't take her from me this time." Havoc's eyes started to light up and Breda laughed at him.

"It's not Hawkeye is it, 'cus we all know she's as off limits as any of his sisters." Havoc laughed at this.

"No way. I mean yea she's hot and all and any man would be lucky to have her, but she's more like a sister to me. There's no way I could ever think of her like that. Besides we all know that her and Mustang have something going on. She is in the military though."

"Who is it?" Breda asked curiously.

"Not telling, if I do it'll jinx my chances and I'll never get her." He said puffing on his cigarette.

"Yea, what ever man. You know I'll figure it out eventually."

"Probably, but you won't be hearing it from me." By then they were almost at the spot where they were suppose to meet Furey.

When they got there they saw the younger was already there waiting fro them. Havoc called out to him.

"Hey Furey, any luck?" The two older men looked at their young friend expectantly.

"I'm not sure. Some of the girls working in the bar did see a woman matching the victim's description around here last night, but they couldn't tell me much else. They did say she was with another girl, late teen to early 20s with red hair." Havoc and Breda looked at each other.

"Well that fits with what we found." Breda said.

""Oh, how's that?" Furey asked slightly confused. This time Havoc chimed in.

"Breda found some red hairs not to far from where the body was discovered. We think they may belong to the victim's sister, but we need to talk to Hawkeye first and confirm whether or not she actually has red hair." Furey just shook his head to indicate that he understood.

"Was there anything else? Did anyone happen to speak with one of them, or hear what they were talking about?" Breda asked looking at Furey again.

"Huh, oh yea. One of the girls, I think it was Victoria, said she overheard them talking about going to see one of theirs sisters. And there was something about Central Asylum." This struck the men as odd, though Breda, remembering what they were told that morning made some connections.

"Didn't Hawkeye say that they called themselves sister and one of them is staying at Central Asylum?"

"You're right. I guess that's out next step is to go and see the girl as the asylum." Havoc said lighting up another cigarette.

"Guys, shouldn't we wait and talk to Mustang and Hawkeye first? I'm sure they'd want to know what we found. Plus it would probably be easier for the captain to go and visit this girl than it would be for us." The older men looked at Furey. For being the youngest on the team he kept on making a lot of sense. Then Breda voiced his agreement.

"You're right. Why you report back to HQ and give them our findings and while you're doing that Havoc and I will focus on trying to find this red-haired girl. Chances are she's got the answers we're really looking for anyway. Besides we don't know if she's in any danger or not. If she was there last night then the killer might have seen her and taken her with him, or killed her and dumped her body somewhere else. Furey, while you're there go and check the morgue and see if there are any red-headed Jane's from last night or this morning."

"Okay, here's a list of all the girls who said they saw the two. It might help you in locating her." Furey said handing Breda a sheet of paper.

"Sounds good to me; do you want to start by looking into all the hotels in the area, maybe one of the desk clerks saw them, then we can get a look at where they're staying." Havoc said as he finished off his current cigarette.

"Let's go then. Furey, if anything comes up you know how to get a hold of us. We'll meet you back at the office before turning in this evening."

"Understood, see you guys later." Furey said as he headed of back to Central HQ by himself while the other men went in the opposite direction to the nearest hotel, hoping that for once they would find some good news.

…

A/N: I know it's long and I know there isn't much royai in this chapter, but trust me when I say that next chapter will be full of Roy and Riza goodness. And besides this chapter was important because it is setting up a lot of what's going to happen. Now they have the mystery red-head to find. Is she Miranda's little sister, or is she some other woman we haven't heard of yet? And when they find her will she be dead or alive? You'll just have to wait and see. I will begin responding to your reviews next chapter, so if you have anything you want to know ask me now, though I'll tell you now, I will not give any spoilers. Also I'm interested to hear any theories about who you think the killer might be. I know we're not too far in, but if you ever think you know who it is then let me know. I won't tell you if you're right, but I want to hear your theories anyway. I hope to hear from you all soon. Laters.

Next chapter: Chapter 3- Meeting Adriana


	4. Meeting Adriana

Disclaimer- I own NOTHING!

Summary- "Roy Mustang what is it you're afraid of?"

Chapter 3: Meeting Adriana

…

Hawkeye waited until they were gone before she went back in the room and fell into the nearest chair, exhausted. Telling her most trusted friends about her adolescence was more difficult than she thought it would be, not that she thought it would be a walk in the park. Truth be told, she never did go and check on the report, she just wanted an excuse to get out of the room for a minute. Signing she put her head in her hands trying to clear her mind and comprehend everything that had happened that day so far. The weight of it all felt like it was coming down to crush her.

She was then startled out of her thoughts when Mustang put his hand on her shoulder. The captain had nearly forgotten he was still there. He looked at her with all the worry and understanding in the world in his eyes. For a minute he just stood there, his hand on her shoulder, staring into her eyes.

"Captain if you need a rest I think we can hold off on going to see your friend for an hour or two." She looked back up at her commanding officer and shook her head.

"No, I'm fine. I just needed a minute to catch my breath. The sooner we talk to Adri the better. It's even possible that Miranda went and saw her. If that's the case then she might be able to give us some clues as to why Miranda was murdered." She then stood up, shaking the man's hand off her shoulder and straightened her already perfectly straight uniform.

"Listen Hawkeye, I know you want to find your friend's killer, believe me _I_ _know_ what that's like, but you can't go pushing yourself to hard. If you don't take care of yourself then we have no chance of finding this killer." He brought his hand up to brush her bangs out of her face, but then dropped it. Hawkeye saw then gesture, but chose to ignore it. She looked into his eyes that were so full of understanding that she almost had to sit back down.

"Sir, I understand what you are saying, but I promise you I am fine. There is nothing to worry about. We need to be going; I don't know how long this is going to take." She then turned to face the door and started to walk away from the man she cared so much about. About half way to the door she stopped, and in a quiet voice that he rarely heard she said, "Thank you though, for worrying about me. This has been difficult, but I promise you I am alright." Then she started walking again. Mustang just smiled to himself and for once he followed her.

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It took them approximately 20 minutes to reach the home of Adriana Collens, formally know as Adriana Lukas, and her husband, Henry. It was a small house on the east side of Central City. It was about two stories, but did not have much of a yard and only had three bedrooms. Although the number of rooms and the size of their yard meant little to the Collens' because they had no children, and had no plans to have any. Their house was the perfect place for them, Adriana had enough of a yard for her garden and Henry had enough room for his home office, so they were both perfectly content with their small house and their lives in general.

The most important thing about the house, at least from Adriana's perspective, was that it was just three short blocks away from Central Asylum, where Adriana's closest friend was to live out the rest of her days. She thought of it as her responsibility to keep her dear friend company, even though she rarely remembered anything other than the torment she had suffered at the hands of her own father's apprentice. So every day the 36 year old woman walks three blocks to visit her friend, even though it's been 15 years and there has been no significant improvement, she still goes because she knows that if this had happened to her then her friend would be doing the exact same.

Adriana had just gotten back from her daily visit when the tow military officers came to visit. At first she didn't even recognize the blonde haired woman who addressed her. It had been so long since they had seen each other. This was definitely not the same little girl she had cared for 20 years prior. No this was a strong, proud woman, who had seen her share of horrors and come out on top.

"Hello Adri." Was all she said at first, it was almost as if she was afraid of what the older woman would think on her.

"Riza, is that really you? Well this is a shock. I didn't recognize you there for a second. I'd heard you'd gone and stayed in the military. It's been so long since I've seen you last though. Oh, you let your hair grow out, I'm sure if you'd let it down it'd be beautiful. Please come in, who is this with you?" Adriana asked, indicating the tall man with black hair and eyes so dark blue they almost looked black.

"Oh, yes, this is Brigadier General Roy Mustang, he's my commanding officer. Actually we're here to ask you a few questions." Hawkeye said stepping into the house with Mustang right behind her.

"Well this is interesting, first Miranda, now you." Hawkeye was not quite shocked to hear that Adriana had heard from Miranda, in fact she had been expecting it, but to hear it confirmed still set her uneasy from come reason.

"Miranda was here? When did she contact you last?" Adriana thought about it for a minute.

"Well she called me last week to say that her and Emma were coming into Central. She said there was something important she needed to tell me, but she couldn't do it over the phone. Then two nights ago she called me from their hotel room, I guess, and said that she would like to see me. I was busy that night so we made plans to meet up yesterday, but she never showed. Actually now that I think about it, she also asked if I had you and Nila's numbers, but of course I didn't. She seemed really upset by that. I figured that she was just looking to catch up with everyone. I tried calling the number she left me, but no one answered. Why, what's going on?" By now Adriana could sense that something was wrong by the look in Hawkeye's eyes. "Riza, what is happening?"

The younger woman took a deep breath, no happy that she was the one who had to share this sad news. "Adri, Miranda is dead." Adriana gasped and fell back against the wall. "She was found in an ally towards the center of town, this morning. Please, you must tell us everything you know. What time were you suppose to meet her? If we know that, then that can help us establish some sort of a time line. I don't suppose you know what hotel she was staying at? Anything at all could help lead us to her killer. And you said Emma was supposed to be with her? Was she going to be there when you met with Miranda? Please try to remember Adri."

Hawkeye started to panic a little at the mention of Miranda's younger sister. If she was missing then there was no telling what was being done to her or where she might be. What if the killer had got her too and they just hadn't discovered her body yet? No, if she was going to solve this then she needed to keep a clear head. For now they needed to work under the assumption that Emma was still alive.

"Umm, I don't remember where they were staying exactly, but I do know it was suppose to be somewhere near Central Command. We were going to meet at a bar close by, not one I would usually go to, but she insisted. We were supposed to meet at 7'o clock, but like I said she never showed up. I waited until close to 9, but I never heard from her" Mustang now broke into the conversation.

"Do you remember the name of the bar?" He had a feeling he knew which one she was going to say.

"Uh, I think it was called Christmas or something like that. It was one of those bars that had those call girls working there. Why she wanted to meet in a place like that I don't know, but like I said she insisted." The officers looked at each other recognizing the bar she was talking about. It was the same bar that Mustang's foster mother, Chris Mustang a.k.a. Madame Christmas, owned and operated.

"She never indicated why she wanted to meet at that specific bar?" Hawkeye asked imploring her older friend to have some sort of answer.

"No, and it didn't seem like the kind of place she would choose for the scenery. I mean to be honest the place seemed a little seedy to me." Mustang let out a small chuckle at that, though thankfully neither woman paid any attention to it. Hawkeye signed in resignation.

"Alright. Please contact us if you remember anything else. Here's the number to get to the direct line in our office. Our team is personally handling this case." Hawkeye said, handing Adriana a slip of paper. "I also wrote out the number for my home line and for the General. That way you should be able to get a hold of one of us, should the need arise. Also, do you still have the things I gave you?" Adriana nodded lightly. "Good, it may be best for you to keep them with you, just in case. We don't know the killer's motive yet, but it appears to be related to the secrets. We have no way of knowing whether or not this person has any knowledge of the rest of us. Please be careful."

"I will. You said you think the motive had something to do with the secret, how come?" Hawkeye sighed again.

"Well, we don't have the full report yet, but we do know that there was extensive damage done to her back. From that it looked like to me, whoever killed her was trying to destroy all traces of the tattoo, and they did a pretty good job of it." This almost made Adriana sick to her stomach. Then she realized something, Riza was talking about all of this in front of her commanding officer like it was nothing.

"I think I need to sit down." They then followed her out of the front room, where they had been talking, to the living room, where Adriana unceremoniously collapsed into her favorite chair. "SO I'm to take it that you know all about this?" She said addressing Mustang.

"Uh, yea." He answered not quite sure what to say.

"How long have you know about us?" Her face was stern, still unsure if she could really trust this man, even though Riza seemed to.

"I've known about hers," indicating Hawkeye, "for about 14 years. I only just found out about the rest of you today." Adriana's face hardened even more.

"How did you find out about hers? And why was it any of your business to know?"

"I was her father's apprentice. After he passed away she offered me the secrets to her father's alchemy, since he never taught it to me while he was alive."

"And you didn't force her to tell you? You didn't threaten her or hurt her in anyway to make her give you the secrets?" Mustang looked at the woman, disgust visible on his face.

"I would never. She means entirely too much to me for me to do such a horrendous thing. How could you even thing that I would do such a thing?" Mustang was furious. How dare she insinuate that he would ever even consider harming the woman he held most dear? Then he remembered something Hawkeye had told him just that morning. That one of the others had been hurt for her secrets. He instantly clamed down, though still unhappy about the implication, he did understand where it came form. Unfortunately Adriana didn't see the change in his demeanor and began screaming at him.

"How dare I! I'll tell you something Roy Mustang, my best friend who never even wanted anyone to ever know about this damn curse our fathers placed on us all, was tortured for her secrets. Even still, 15 years later it still haunts her, what he did to her. She is going to be stuck inside that asylum for the rest of her foreseeable future, because of him. Another was thrown out of her home because her people did not believe in alchemy and did not want her near them because they felt she was unclean, all because someone happened to see her back and realize what it was. And Me! I have to live every day in constant fear that the neck of my shirt is to low in the back for fear that someone might see it. My wedding dress had to be specifically altered so none of my back is showing. And I know Riza has similar issues. She was frightened going through the military's academy because she had to share a room with so many others and she was worried someone might see it and ask questions. And now you come here telling me that another of my closest friends, one of my sisters is dead because of what she had hidden on her back. SO YES, I will be suspicious, because I have reason to be. These girls are all like my younger sisters and I've seen enough of them suffer. I was the first one to get my tattoo. I had to sit back and watch as every one of them had to deal with the pain and humiliation of getting their own. Did Riza ever tell you how old we all were when we got our tattoos?" This time she gave Mustang a second to answer, all he managed was a weak 'no'. "The specific ages varied slightly, but I was the oldest to get mine, and I was 12 when it happened to me and Riza, she was the youngest, she was only ten years old. I guess our fathers just grew impatient. The rest of us had to sit back and listen to her cries as they held her down and forced her to become little better than a piece of paper. Not a single one of us accepted this willingly, but each of us has had to carry this burden."

Mustang was speechless. He had never heard about it like that before, and Hawkeye had never told him how it had happened. Originally he had assumed that n some level, she had consented to carry the secrets, but to hear that she had been forced, held down as she screamed for someone to help her, it was almost to much for him to bare. He felt sick and numb, but mostly he wanted to grab a hold of his beloved captain and just hold her to him. He had known that he was in love with her for some time, and it was times like this, when he was reminded of just how much suffering she has gone through that he felt it difficult to contain. He just wanted to pull her into his embrace, kiss her softly and show her that not all the world is the terrible, cruel place she had known. He fell onto the couch he was standing in front of and put his face in his hands, much like Hawkeye had done earlier. She then walked over to him and in a reverse of that morning, put her hand on his shoulder.

"Adri, that's enough." She said quietly and calmly. "I promise you, he did not hurt me, or force me to give him the secrets. Not in anyway. I gave them to him freely, of my own free will, because I believe in him and his dreams to make this country better. It was all my choice. He isn't like Kimbly." Upon hearing that name Mustang sucked in his breath and attempted to speak.

"C Captain, you don't mean… you're not talking about… it isn't that Kimbly is it? Are you saying what I think you are saying?" She looked away before answering.

"Yes sir. Major Solf J Kimbly was the apprentice of Anthony Markus, who was the father of Karina Markus. I did not know, necessarily, that it was the same person until much later, but yes he tortured her because he found out that she held her father's secrets and she would not give them up willingly. He tortured her for almost a month before he got what he wanted and left her alone. After that she went insane, always afraid that he would some back and hurt her some more." She sat down next to him and looked at her lap.

"But I thought you didn't know the names of each other's father's apprentice, how do you know him?"

"I found out on one of my visits to her since she's been here in Central, when I was in the academy. Something set her off and she started yelling his name. I didn't know for sure that it was the same person until we were in charge of filing the paper work on his death. In his file they listed his teacher as his next of kin, and for obvious reasons, I recognized the name."

Adriana then saw something between the other two. She could see the love they had for one another. She could see just how much they belonged together by the way they were interacting, as if the rest of the world didn't exist. Somehow she found it in herself to break in and speak.

"Look, I'm sorry I blew up at you. And Riza I'm sorry I upset you and let out all of your secrets. It's just this is a lot to take in all at once. Listen, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm tired. I will call you if anything comes up, and I'll see what I can do about getting a hold of Nila. I'm sure she'd want to know." Hawkeye and Mustang stood up.

"Of course Adri and I'll try to keep you informed about the progression of the case. Call me if you manage to get Nila. If nothing else, during the week you can always come to Central Command. I'll give the guards your names, so there shouldn't be any trouble getting in, and I'm sure someone would be willing to show you to out office. I'll see you later." Then Hawkeye walked over and gave the older woman a hug and a kiss of the cheek, and started to walk towards the door. Mustang was about to follow when Adriana stopped him.

"Hey, you make sure and take care of her okay. I know she's trying to hide it, but this is affecting her too. She seems to trust you, but I swear if you ever hurt her in anyway I will seek you out and kill you. I've lost too many of my sisters to see any more get hurt." Mustang, instead of taking offence to this smiled.

"I promise I will do everything in my power to ensure her safety." She smiled at this answer.

"You'd better." And then he walked off to the woman who had protected him for so many years, maybe now it would be his turn to protect her.

…

A/N: Wow, that was over 3000 words. SO what did you think? I didn't mean for the whole Kimbly thing to slip out so soon, but it fit so I went with it. Don't ask why I did it, it just seemed to fit his character, and then it does explain a bit better some of Hawkeye's dislike of him in the Ishval flashback. Also, I realized half way though this that I left out Hayate, but since I didn't feel like going back though and adding him we'll pretend that Hawkeye left him at the office to protect the paperwork. Yea, that works. SO like I said, as of this chapter I am going to start responding to your reviews, though only the ones that actually that something that needs responding to, everyone else will get a mention though in the special thank-you section that is being added at the end of each chapter.

A/N 2.0: Okay so I know I have taken absolutely forever to update this, but I assure you that I am continuing with it. My life these last few months has been wonderfully crazy and it's getting more hectic by the day. I am hoping to be able to update more often though. Now I will get to review responses.

Review Responses:

Chameleon52: I am glad that you appreciate the story so far and yes there will be much more. I hope to hear from you again as I get more out.

InsertDecentNameHere: I am glad you like the story thus far. You are one of my most loyal readers and so I would hate to disappoint you. I agree that the premise is a bit strange, but it got into my head and wouldn't leave until I got it out here. My major hope for this is that I can get it out without making everyone to OOC and with it being interesting and maybe even a bit believable. I'll hold it to you to make sure I keep with it.

Inma: I am sorry for the long wait, but hopefully that shouldn't happen again. I am glad that you are enjoying both my works and hope you continue to do so. Also about your English, it's just something you need to keep practicing and eventually you will get it. I applaud your efforts to learn a new language and hope your studies are going well.

Tigrette-of-Fire: I am so happy to hear that you like my idea so well and hope that I don't end up disappointing you.

I want to thank those of you who have reviewed on here so far and hope that you will continue to do so as I post more.

Next Chapter: Chapter 4- The Search for the Red Haired Girl


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